St. Kitts & Nevis, Sep 8 (IANS): Defending champions Trinbago Knight Riders registered their fourth win in this year's 2021 Caribbean Premier League (CPL) as they outplayed Jamaica Tallawahs by 75 runs on Wednesday.
The Tallawahs won the toss and opted to field first. Trinbago Knight Riders initially struggled as they were restricted by Imad Wasim and Veerasammy Permaul. A late onslaught from captain Kieron Pollard and Tim Seifert ensured they reached 167-4 after the duo blasted 28 runs in the final over.
Seifert coming in the 18th over changed the complexion of the game as he smashed 24 runs off just eight balls and his partnership with Pollard amounting to a remarkable 62 runs off 20 deliveries.
Jamaica Tallawahs struggled to build partnerships amidst some fantastic bowling from Sunil Narine, Ravi Rampaul and Ali Khan as they finished 92 all out against the defending champions.
Meanwhile, Barbados Royals gave themselves hopes of getting into the play-offs with a 45-run victory over the Guyana Amazon Warriors. This was their second win and they still have three group games remaining.
The Royals, put into bat, started quickly with 67 runs from the Powerplay with Johnson Charles (40) and Kyle Mayers (36) getting their team firing early on. The Amazon Warriors pegged things back with the wickets of Mayers and Azam Khan but a stand of 48 between Glenn Phillips and Smit Patel put the Royals back in front.
Phillips top scored with 44 and he was well supported by Jason Holder who made 22 from seven balls. When both fell within quick succession the Royals innings lost some impetus but still posted 185/8.
Romario Shepherd was once again the pick of the Amazon Warriors bowlers, claiming 3/31 from his four overs.
The Guyana Amazon Warriors reply started badly with three wickets falling inside their Powerplay as they reached 39/3 off the first six overs. While wickets fell around, it was Mohammad Hafeez who looked to hold things together for the Warriors. He made 30 from 25 balls before he was well stumped by Smit Patel off a wide bowled by Ashley Nurse.
When Hafeez fell the Amazon Warriors needed 115 runs from 65 balls and the pressure was on Shoaib Malik to see his side home. When he fell going for a big shot off Nyeem Young there was no way back for the Guyanese side.
Some late order hitting from Odean Smith gave some respectability to the margin of defeat, but the Royals closed out a comfortable win with a very strong bowling display with wickets shared evenly across their attack.
Brief scores:
Trinbago Knight Riders: 167/4 (Simmons 42, Pollard 39; Imad Wasim 1/13, Brathwaite 1/16) beat Jamaica Tallawahs: 92 all out (Powell 22, Brathwaite 14; Ali Khan 4/6, Narine 2/11) by 75 runs.
Barbados Royals: 185/8 (Phillips 44, Charles 40, Mayers 36; Shepherd 3/31, Motie 2/33) beat Guyana Amazon Warriors: 140 all out (O Smith 43, Hafeez 30; Young 3/24, Lintott 2/16) by 45 runs.